The famous Latin phrase describes not only the Budapest Wolves’ latest win, but also the first part of their season, that ended with another win against the Gladiators, this time in Austria. The Wolves have left their North opponents in a cloud of dust and after only four games secured the top spot in the conference, meaning either Novi Sad’s or Belgrade’s path to the final will have go through Budapest.
Like in Budapest, it would’ve been another 42-21 win, except Gábor Sviatkó missed an extra point after Budapest’s second touchdown. What was different is that the Gladiators never had a chance this time, falling behind 21 points and being down 27-7 after the first half.
Three Budapest players threw 11 passes and completed all 11. Vasyl Yordan was once again excellent, completing 8 for three touchdowns in the first half, with the first two going to Bálint Michaletzky and Csanád Király. After István Demeter scored his third touchdown of the season, the Gladiators made themselves a factor for a brief moment, with Bernhard Kamber passing to Rene Muhr for an 80 yard touchdown, before Yordan found Király for the second time.
It’s not such a bad thing to be the backup quarterback in Budapest this year; Attila Lendvai made another appearance due to a convincing lead from the first half. He attempted and completed just two passes though, as Budapest was content to run and protect the lead. Their first points came on a punt return by Krisztián Piros after which Demeter turned the game into a blowout with another rushing touchdown.
The Gladiators were able to save face a bit with two more touchdown passes by Kamber, to Manuel Houtz and Hannes Kamber for the final score of 41-21. Bernhard Kamber also completed 8 passes for 3 touchdowns, but did so on 23 pass attempts.
Gladiators now must edge out Ljubljana for second place and a playoff spot, which probably won’t be too difficult considering their 38-6 win in Ljubljana. It could also be a good thing since a trip for a playoff game to Serbia could lead them to Belgrade, against a team they seemed intent on beating after the loss in Rudersdorf in late April.